EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS
TEXT- REVELATION 6:12-17
Revelation 6:12-17 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
INTRODUCTION
SOMEONE ONCE ASKED PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON HOW LONG IT TOOK HIM TO PREPARE FOR A TEN-MINUTE SPEECH. HE SAID, "TWO WEEKS." "HOW LONG FOR AN HOUR SPEECH?" "ONE WEEK", THE PRESIDENT ANSWERED. "HOW LONG FOR A TWO-HOUR SPEECH?" "I'M READY NOW", REPLIED THE PRESIDENT.
WELL, THIS MORNING I AM READY, BUT I WONDER, ARE YOU?
ON OCTOBER 1, 1987 NOT MANY DAYS AGO, AT 7:42 AM, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WAS STRUCK BY THE WORST EARTHQUAKE SINCE 1971, MEASURING 6.1 ON THE RICHTER SCALE.
THE EARTHQUAKE CRUMBLED HOMES AND BUSINESSES, STARTED MORE THAN 100 FIRES AND CAUSED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO FLEE FROM THEIR HIGH-RISE OFFICES AND HOMES.
OFFICIALS HAVE PLACED THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF DAMAGE DONE BY THE QUAKE AT MORE THAN $170 MILLION.
DAMAGES COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE HOWEVER IF STATE AND LOCAL AGENCIES SUCH AS THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, POLICE DEPARTMENT AND RED CROSS HAD NOT BEEN PREPARED TO HANDLE SUCH A DISASTER.
YET, IN SPITE OF THIS, SEVEN PEOPLE DIED AS A RESULT OF THE EARTHQUAKE.
ONE OF THESE WAS A 21-YEAR-OLD LADY FROM SAN GABRIEL NAMED LUPE EXPOSITO.
AS SHE WAS WALKING FROM HER CAR TO GO TO CLASS AT THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY IN LOS ANGELES, A 5000-POUND CHUNK OF STEEL AND CONCRETE FELL FROM THE SECOND-LEVEL OF THE PARKING LOT AND CRUSHED HER TO DEATH.
THIS MORNING OUR TEXT IS FOUND IN REVELATION 6:12-17 AND THE TITLE OF MY MESSAGE IS, "EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS".
HERE IN OUR TEXT WE FIND HOW THAT BEFORE JESUS RETURNS TO EARTH THERE IS GOING TO BE A GREAT EARTHQUAKE.
WITHIN THE BIBLE WE ARE TOLD THAT ONE OF THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES THAT WILL PRECEDE THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST IS AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT AND INTENSITY OF EARTHQUAKES.
MATTHEW 24:7 NATION WILL RISE AGAINST NATION, AND KINGDOM AGAINST KINGDOM. THERE WILL BE FAMINES AND EARTHQUAKES IN VARIOUS PLACES.
THESE EARTHQUAKES OUGHT TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF US TO BE PREPARED TO MEET JESUS.
THIS EARTHQUAKE IS GOING TO BE SO GREAT THAT WE ARE TOLD IN VERSE 14 THAT "EVERY MOUNTAIN AND ISLAND WERE MOVED OUT OF THEIR PLACES."
FROM VERSES 15-17 WE CAN SEE THAT IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE MANY PEOPLE WHO WILL NOT BE PREPARED TO MEET THE LORD WHEN HE RETURNS AND WILL BEG FOR THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS TO FALL ON THEM AND HIDE THEM FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND THE WRATH OF THE LAMB.
THIS MORNING I WOULD LIKE US TO LOOK AT THREE THINGS CONCERNING BEING PREPARED TO MEET JESUS.